


Comforting Each Other

by MadBiscuitLady



Series: Drabbles/Prompts [6]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, beruani - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 18:38:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10724952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadBiscuitLady/pseuds/MadBiscuitLady
Summary: Tumblr prompt fill, kaiiris requested "Comforting each other" & Bertannie.





	Comforting Each Other

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posting from tumblr. This is from way back in 2015.

The week hadn’t been easy on either of them. Between Annie’s father’s passing, to Bertholdt learning that come next month, he’d be out of a job, everything felt like it was in some out of control disarray.

Annie returned to their apartment after work one evening to find Bertholdt curled up on the sofa, wrapped in the spare comforter. The TV was on, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention as Gordon Ramsey unleashed his fury upon another uneducated, wannabe chef.

Both of them were very good at bottling up whatever was bothering them to avoid inconveniencing the other, but there was only so much a person could take. Bertholdt felt Annie’s loss was much larger than his, jobs were replaceable, fathers were not. Annie didn’t want to expose her vulnerability. She was supposed to be strong, how could she be strong if something as inevitable as death brought her to her knees?

Her father had had his fair share of health problems. He was an older man with a weakness for cigars and red meat. She knew early on that it would be his undoing. She had accepted that early on after his first heart attack. He was stubborn, you couldn’t get him to change worth a damn, but seeing him in that casket made him seem so very small. This was the man who taught her how to play baseball, catch fish, subdue any jerkwad who dared to touch her without her consent, and the same man, who despite his bravado, taught himself to braid his tiny daughter’s hair so she would have the prettiest school photo on picture day. Not to mention on more than one occasion stepped in as Barbie’s friend Stacy, who together with She-Ra recaptured Castle Greyskull from Skellator, Shredder, and Ken’s evil twin Ben.

It was too much this swarm of nostalgia. She kicked off her shoes and threw her jacket over the kitchen chair, before tugging the end of the comforter enveloping Bertholdt and crawling in beside him on the sofa, hopefully nonchalantly, but her movements were probably more awkward and jerky than she would have liked.

“Move over.” The words felt choked in her throat where a lump had formed.

Bertholdt shifted over cautiously, unwrapping more of the blanket from himself to better share between the two of them. He could tell something was up, but he wasn’t sure if this was the sort of situation where Annie needed space. Sometimes just being in quiet proximity of each other was all they needed.

They sat beside each other silently for a few moments while the TV droned on. Bertholdt glanced over at Annie. Even with the curtain of hair obscuring her eyes he could see that tears were streaming down her face, dotting the surface of the blanket.

Any hesitation he had felt quickly fell by the wayside.

He wrapped his arms around her and gently pulled her towards him. That’s when she broke, burying her face in his sweater, shoulders heaving with silent sobs.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” her words were muffled against his chest.

He held her close, rubbing her back in soothing motions and pressing soft kisses against her hair.

“It’s okay. Really.” He murmured, releasing one arm to reach over for the nearby tissue box and placing it beside her, which she accepted gratefully.

Bertholdt knew better than anyone that Annie was a strong person, far stronger than he was. She was hurting right now, but she would dust herself off and keep moving forward, just like she always had, but right now he needed to be strong for her. He could muddle through for Annie.

“I’m sorry.” She repeated, voice hoarse. “I just…I started remembering all these things and…I guess it’s finally hit me that he’s gone.”

“Remember when I first met him? He was pretty scary.”

Annie gave a small smile. “I believe he threatened to pull Charlotte out of retirement if you ‘hurt my little girl,’ and then he pointed to his shotgun that was mounted over the fireplace.”

“I don’t think he was joking…”

She actually laughed then, “No probably not entirely. He did like you though. 'He’s a good kid, but if he knocks you up I’m gonna bury him.'”

Bertholdt looked horrified. “Oh my god…”

“I never told you that?”

“I think you left that part out.”

“Probably for the best.” She sighed, before getting up to dispose of the used tissues and wash her hands.

She plopped back down beside him on the sofa leaning against him as they fell into companionable silence again.

“Feeling any better?”

“Yeah. For now. What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you looked zombified when I got in.”

“I’ll be fine.”

She gave him a narrow look that said she wasn’t buying it.

“Don’t stress out about work, you’re pretty much guaranteed a position with your knowledge base.”

“Yeah, there are a lot of programming jobs I guess. Worst comes to worst I could always do freelance for awhile…”

“Sounds like you’ve already got a plan.”

“Yeah…yeah I guess I do.”

She turned her attention to the TV, “Are we really going to watch reruns of Kitchen Nightmares all night?”

He handed her the remote.

She scanned the On Demand menus, “Archer marathon it is.”

Five episodes and countless Kenny Loggin’s puns later, they fell asleep nestled together on the sofa, exhausted, but in much better spirits.

**Author's Note:**

> Ha, ha, ha…somehow this turned into a sobfest about Annie’s dad. I’m sorry, I just pictured this stocky 60 something man, who had a kid later on in his life, lost his wife in childbirth and found himself raising a baby girl all by himself, and taught her equal amounts of stereotypical tough guy manly stuff without compromising her femininity at the same time. Suddenly poor Bertholdt became an afterthought. Sorry Bert.


End file.
